A Choice and a Chance
by Larania Drake
Summary: Elfangor gets to make a decision about his life
1. Default Chapter Title

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A Choice and a Chance

Disclaimer: Animorphs belongs to Scholastic, and the poem "Shadow-Lover" was written by Mercedes Lackey, from Magic's Price  ( I'm only going to write part of it, it's long.)

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Prologue

Loren was looking at her baby, Tobias. He was perfect, and he was hers, hers and her husband, Bill's. They had had a whirlwind courtship. It had felt as if they had meant to be together. They had gotten married a few months after Tobias' birth, but he wasn't Tobias' father. For some reason, she couldn't remember who had sired her son. This disturbed her. She wasn't that type of woman. These weren't the only holes in her memory. When she counted up her own years, she was physically older than she should be. This didn't make any sense. Plus, even though she loved Bill dearly, he didn't fill the void within her heart. Something was missing, and she wished she knew what.

At night she dreamed. It was something right out of Star Wars. She was talking with a blue creature. She couldn't hear what she said to it, but she knew the feelings that went with them. She felt love. In her dream, she held her little boy, and presented him to the blue creature. It touched Tobias' face and smiled with its eyes. Then it was torn from her. She clutched desperately at it, but there was nothing she could do. He was gone.

She woke up. He? She thought. Earlier, 'he' had been 'it'. With each time she dreamed, a little more came back to her. She gritted her teeth. She would remember. Even if it killed her. 

Shadow-Lover, comfort me in pain.

Love, although I never see your face,

All who'd have me fear you speak in vain-

Never would I shrink from your embrace

Shadow-Lover, gentle is your hand

Never could another understand.

Shadow-Lover, you alone can know

How I long to reach a point of peace

How I fade with weariness and woe

How I long for you to bring me release.

Shadow-Lover, court me in my dreams

Bring the peace that suffering redeems.

Shadow-Lover, from the Shadows made,

Lead me into Shadows once again.

Where you lead I cannot be afraid,

For with you I shall come home again-

In your arms I shall not fear the night.

Shadow-Lover, lead me into light.

Elfangor felt hope, even as Visser 3's jaws closed around him. He knew that the human youths he had given the morphing power to would fight with everything they had. His son was among them, and he had given Earth a chance. Yet, he felt hope and relief for another reason entirely. Now, it was over. No matter what came next, he wouldn't have to fight anymore. No more fear, no more battles, no more shed blood on his hands. 

The pain of death raced across his nerves. His hearts desperately tried to beat blood into his shredded muscles, and his punctured lungs labored against the teeth holding them. Nothing was left. Darkness claimed his vision.

_Elfangor._

He was aware of watching himself being eaten. He saw Visser 3 chew. He watched as the Taxxons fought for his scraps. He knew all this was happening, but was strangely detached.

_Elfangor, take my hand._

He noticed an Andalite standing next to him. His arms were so weak.

_Prince Elfangor!_

With what little strength he had left, he reached out. The Andalite, a female, grasped his hand. Then, nothing.

He came to himself in a place of cool, silver mist. Everything seemed strangely vivid, oddly more real. It was like he was seeing things for the first time. He turned his eyes around slowly, taking in his surroundings. Then he saw her.

She was cloaked in shadow. He couldn't make out any details about her, save her eyes. All four of them blazed with a light that was far more than mortal. She was a beautiful example of his kind.

Hello, Prince Elfangor, she whispered.

A sense of power shot through him. He wished he was in human morph, so he could drop to his knees. He tried to, anyway.

No, Prince Elfangor. I am but a messenger.

Elfangor thought of all the old stories he had heard on Earth of death coming for people. He had scoffed at the time. Now, he knew differently. Drawing himself to his hooves, he said,I'm ready.

Are you? She sighed. 

I don't think I have much choice, do I? I'm very dead. My body has been eaten. What else can I be, but dead?

If you could go back, would you? asked the Messenger.

I- He stopped. Would he? He didn't know.

Death gestured behind her. A gate seemed to open in the mist.

This is not a decision to be made lightly. Ask whatever you will. Rest here for a time, and I will come back for you.

Elfangor looked at her aghast. 

She smiled slightly, and stepped away. He looked through the gate, and found a calm meadow. It was a mixture of Andalite and human, but not like the bizarre universe that he and Loren had created. It was perfect. 

He stepped through, and the portal shut behind him. He tasted some of the grasses. They were delicious. He went over to a stream. The water was cool.

For a long time he did nothing but run across the sweet grasses. I must be dead, he thought, for peace such as this couldn't exist anywhere else. I love it here. 

Birds sang as he rushed past them. Animals of all sorts lived here, but he met no sentient creatures. He didn't care.

Flowers bloomed. Trees sang to him. Everything was right with the world. Slowly, he started to forget.

He couldn't remember before here. He didn't need to sleep, or eat. He just ran. He even forgot being an Andalite. 

Sometimes, windows would open up in the sky. He would see great battles, and a hawk that was someone he had cared a great deal for at one time. These images would disturb him, but he forgot quickly.

The joy of running soon began to wear thin. He started to become restless. He wandered around the realm he was in, but met no one. He couldn't understand why this meant something to him, but it did.

Finally, he came across an oddity. It was an artificial structure. Built into a wall, with shelves all around it. A fireplace. Books lined the shelves. A couch, a type of furniture used for sitting, was in front of it.

Memories stirred. He trotted around to the front of the couch, and saw a shadow. A person was sitting there.

Who are you? he asked the figure. The notion of speaking seemed so strange to him.

The figure was a human female, dressed in a flowing white gown. White hair fell over her shoulders. She was reading a book. She ignored him.

Who are you?! he demanded, feeling angered when she wouldn't answer.

Without looking up, she replied," Who are you?"

I am, um- He paused. He struggled to regain a measure of who he had been. It was hard, very hard.

I am- He was sweating and trembling with the effort. 

Suddenly, images burst into his mind. A giant red eye looked at him, and urged him to forget. He had done so enthusiastically. 

I am Elfangor! he declared.

"Good," the human commented, still not looking up.

Who are you? he asked again, more calmly.

She finally glanced at him, before returning to her reading.

"Call me Emrys."

Are you dead too, or just passing through? Elfangor said sarcastically.

"Yes."

Make some sense, damn you!

"Feeling alive again, I see?"

Huh?

"It's about fragging time."

She again paid him no attention. Frustrated, he started wandering around the area. There was a table in a corner, with a chess board on it. The pieces looked like himself and Loren as king and queen on the white side. The youths he had given the morphing power to made up many of the other pieces. Vissers 1 and 3 were on the other side. He looked up briefly, and glanced at the fire. Images of his life, and others flashed through it. When he returned his attention to the board, the pieces were different. Now, creatures he had never seen made up the game. Thinking he had to be seeing things, he started looking at the books. They included science, histories, poetry, so many subjects that his mind boggled. He tried to return to ones that sounded particularly interesting to him, but they, too, had changed.

What is going on here? He queried, turning to the couch again. Again, things had changed. A red-haired woman, shorter than the first, wearing a black gown, sat on a wooden bench.

"This is the World of Dreams, lad. Nothing stays the same here. Stay too long, and memory wanes. I keep these books to help me remember." 

How long have you been here? 

"I have always been here, or, perhaps I should say, I always keep coming back."

Elfangor sighed. This was like, as the humans said, pulling teeth.

Why are you here?

"I have to have someplace to go between lives, don't I? The real question should be, my dear Prince, is why are you still here?"

I don't understand, he answered, feeling confused.

Emrys sighed and put down her book.

"You are needed back in the mortal realms. Even more so, back on earth. Your son is there, and so is Visser 3. You died, yes, but you still have a choice, which Crayak doesn't want you to make. He helped you to forget. He couldn't do it completely, because the Dream World is mostly beyond his control. But then, there are a lot of things beyond both Crayak's and the Ellimist's control. They hare pawns themselves, who think they are the players. I digress. The One Who Rides a Pale Horse has given you time to think, and you wasted it running. Why in the Pit of Doom are you here, boy?"

I, I don't know. I don't really want to go back.

A dead weight seemed to settle over Emrys shoulders.

"Death is lighter then a feather, but duty is heavier than a mountain."

Reality blurred.

Again, he stood in a place of cool, silver mist. Before him stood Death, looking like an Andalite.

Have you any questions?

Ah, yes, I do, he replied. He thought of his conversation with Emrys, and the pain in her face as she made her final, cryptic, comment.

What are my choices?

A life of suffering or, she smiled softly and opened her arms, myself.

What have I got to go back to?

Pain, death, and war. Down one road, if you loose, all that you have ever loved will be obliterated. You will become a Controller. Down the other, you may be asked to make a sacrifice that will destroy you. You will be alone to make that decision. Both chances are likely.

He gathered his courage to ask this final question.

What will happen if I don't return?

For you, peace, and an end to the nightmare of war.

For myself, he thought. But what for everyone else?

"For my people? My son?" he asked, realizing he has spoken aloud. He looked down at himself, and saw he had regained his human morph.

"They will come to me, in greater numbers, faster and in worse ways. All free peoples will be threatened, and the Andalites will lose, and earth will be lost."

Elfangor saw that Death, too, had taken on a human guise. He hung his head. The peace he had felt was one that he felt he had earned. In a fair universe, by all rights, he should get to stay there. Yet, he of all people knew that the universe wasn't fair.

"I haven't come for her, you know."

"Come for whom?" he asked, looking up again.

"Loren."

He gasped sharply. Tears started down his cheeks.

"You won't be able to do anything to change the past, but the future has yet to be written. Loren is out there, and you need to find her. Tobias, your son, needs you. They all do. The sacrifice I told you off isn't what you are expecting, and will be worth it. Life can be lived," she added, compassionately. 

"I will go back," he choked past the knot that had formed in his human throat.

"I have never been more happy than when I lose," she murmured, taking him into her embrace.

He felt so tired right then. So, so tired. So he cried himself out, in Death's arms. Finally she kissed him, and held him, with all the kindness and compassion that only Death can have. 

When he finally pulled away, he asked, "How am I supposed to go back? My body was eaten."

"Elfangor's body was," she said. "But Alan Fangor's body didn't."

She blurred before his eyes. 

He said desperately," I won't be able to do anything as Al Fangor!"

He woke up.

He was in his human morph, albeit many years older. He was in a hospital gown. He was hooked up to monitors, and an IV was in his arm. While taking in his situation, he heard a voice whisper in his mind,_ Yes you will, you'll just have to find out for yourself._

Epilogue

Loren rocked and crooned to herself a lullaby. The padded walls of her cell seemed unreal to her, as did the straightjacket. She didn't know how long she had been there. Maybe forever. All she could do was wait, and hope that the doctors came back. Then she would have someone to talk to.

Comments? Want me to continue? 


	2. Awakenings

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A Choice and a Chance 2: Awakenings

Elfangor woke up after his journey into the Dream World in a hospital room. Various IV's and monitors were attached to him. He was human, he realized with a shock. He looked at his five fingered hands, and tan-pink skin. I'm alive, he thought, which made him feel dizzy. He had never been happier to be dizzy.

Just then several nurses came in and looked at him in surprise.

"Mr. Fangor, you're awake!" exclaimed a young orderly.

"Ah," he responded, trying out his voice. "Yes, I do seem to be. What happened, and how did I get here? What date is it, anyway?"

"Well, Mr. Fangor, you were hit in a hit and run accident three months ago. You were apparently crossing a street when a car came from no where and hit you. Thankfully, your insurance was very good. You have gotten the best care we could give you."

"Um," he responded. "That's nice.  


Elfangor, now Alan, left the hospital, and entered what seemed to be a continuation of the life he had left to return to being a warrior among his people. The only difference was that he was supposedly a total recluse, he had no wife, and there was no real record of him before now. He was a computer programmer working out of his home and made good money.

He returned to "his" house. The place was Spartan. No television, nothing to play music. The only furnishings were a bed, a huge bank of primitive computers, a chest of drawers, and potted plant. He wandered around, getting the feel of the place. He wondered what he was supposed to do now.

ELFANGOR.

Alan sighed. "I had thought that you would show up eventually, Ellimist."

HOW ARE YOU ALIVE?

"Death decided to send me back."

An old human male appeared before him. He looked like a picture of a human wizard that he had seen in a book that Loren had shown him.

"That is impossible. Death is not a person, a being that can make decisions. Death is ending of life. It can't pick and choose. It is an action, not a living being!"

Alan shrugged. He really didn't feel like arguing.

"I know what I saw, and that I am here now. Explain that."

For the first time, the Ellimist was speechless.

"I can't read your mind," he said finally.

"I'm just as glad. I'm not your toy anymore. I and others may be pieces on a board," he answered, thinking of his conversations in the land of dreams. "But, so are you. The players here are bigger than you could imagine. I will move to their will, not yours."

The Ellimist disappeared.

Alan sighed, and decided he had better start trying to figure out why he was alive now, and sat down at the computers.

He searched late into the night, but nothing came up. He was pleasantly surprised, though, at the way that human computers had advanced since he had left earth. While still painfully primitive by Andalite standards, they were great achievements for humanity. He decided to call it a night.

He fell asleep, and dreamed.

He found himself sitting on a couch looking at a fireplace. Books lined shelves that were carved out of living rock. He looked around and caught sight of the woman he had met in the Dream World, Emrys.

"Welcome back," she said, smiling sardonically.

"I can't be dead again, can I?" he asked.

"No, you are still very much alive. This is the World of Dreams, right? You can come here any time if you are asleep. You did it by yourself, too. Congratulations. You must have the ability called Dreaming. Rare. I imagine that you are not the same Andalite that you were before you died. Well, I suppose if you are going to be doing this every time you fall asleep, I had better start teaching you how to control it."

So she did. That night she started teaching him ways to use this newfound talent. 

The next day, he went to the bank and to get some groceries. He came out of the store, and saw a person screaming for help. He took a second look, and saw that the man's mouth was shut. He looked like nothing was going on. Still, the sobs, whimpers and moans went on unabated. Alan realized what he was seeing. He could tell if a person was a Controller.

Such an ability would have enormous value in information gathering. He could find out who the Yeerks were, and get information for the youths he had given the ability to morph. He smiled coldly. He might not be able to tail fight, but he would do the damnedest job that he could.

He tried to feel something for these people. All he could was a distant kind of pity. The only emotion that he could feel at all was a cold resolve. Nothing else touched him. He had lost the fear that he once had, about losing, and death. All that mattered now to him was the defeat of the Yeerks, nothing at all.

He returned to his house, and began compiling a list of the names of the Controllers that the hosts had screamed into his mind.

Loren had no idea how long she had been in the mental institution. She knew it had to be soon after she had recovered the truth about Tobias and Elfangor. One night, in her dreams, a giant red eye had stared at her, and she remembered everything.

_She had come home from the doctor's to tell Elfangor the good news. They were going to have a baby! They had some serious things to discuss, and she wondered how he would handle it. He had been such a good husband; she knew he would make a good father, too. What were they going to name the child? Were they going to tell him or her about where Elfangor came from? The most frightening part was, if they brought a child into the world, how would they protect it if the Yeerks came?_

She parked in the drive way, next to Elfangor's yellow mustang. Walking in the door, she tried to imagine how she would tell him. 

It wasn't Elfangor waiting for her in the living room. A completely normal looking man was standing there, and he looked at her, then seemed to look through her.

"I'm sorry, Loren," was all he said, before he stole her life and love away. 

She had lived out her life normally after that, with the memory of her love gone from her mind. After her memories returned, she began getting increasingly depressed. The shock of suddenly remembering sent her into a downward spiral. It had taken place over two years, when she finally told someone. That person, her "friend", had her placed into a mental institution before you could say 'shrink'. She was diagnosed a delusional schizophrenic. They put her in the loony bin and started drugging her. 

The drugs were the worst part. For days on end, she would stare at the wall in a daze, as the drugs worked their way through her system. She would live in a fuzzy daydream, humming and talking to herself. They made her forget. Only when they were nearly out of her system did she remember Tobias and her life before. She would cling desperately to these scraps of reality, and feel them slip out of her fingers when the drugs were again administered. 

When she was aware enough to ask, she would ask about Tobias. They would tell her that he was doing fine, that all was well. Bill was taking good care of him. For some reason, these all felt like lies. But then, she didn't think they would give her the correct answer if it were raining.

She was coming to the end of a drug cycle. She was felling more clear headed than usual. She even managed to get to her feet when they came into her padded cell to give her the shots. Only, this time it wasn't the orderly that was assigned to this floor. It was a white-coated doctor. She hadn't seen one in years.

He looked at her like a germ under a microscope. For some reason, his gaze was familiar. She felt chilled, as if pure evil radiated off this man.

He smiled, attempting to seem kind. It looked like he was bearing his teeth.

"Hello, Loren. It has been awhile since we last met. Do you remember? You grew up rather suddenly, if I recall."

Loren hissed. Visser 32. She could only guess at his rank now.

He was going to kill her. No way out of that. Well. Maybe she could get in a few good shots of her own first.

"Yes, I do, Alloran."

Anger twisted his face. For a moment, the face twitched, as if the host was responding to her. She got a grim satisfaction from that.

"How's your son, Loren? Last, I heard, he was living on the street. Not quite the heir to Elfangor that I would have expected," he shot back.

That got a reaction from her, all right.

She screamed, and threw herself at him, trying to tear out his heart, straightjacket or no straightjacket. Their bodies collided, and she noticed that no one was guarding the door. Rolling to her feet, she made a mad break for it. An orderly tried to stop her, but she smacked into him, and they both hit a wall with an emergency ax. The glass shattered, and the man was knocked out. Backing in to the ax carefully, she ripped open the straightjacket. The door was open, and there were no guards. Of course, the Visser wouldn't want any witnesses to his revenge party, would he, she thought. Flinging her jacket to the winds, she ran to freedom.

She was able to live again. If the Yeerks were here, she had to find Tobias, and protect him. She needed to see if there was any way to contact the Andalites, and get help. First, she needed information.

Comments? Want me to finish? 


	3. Default Chapter Title

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A Choice and a Chance 3: Death of Dreams

Disclaimer: Animorphs belongs to Scholastic. I am not making any money.

As Loren ran from the hospital, she had made a half dozen plans, and discarded them in a heartbeat. First, she decided, I have to find Tobias. The problem with that, she realized, was that would be the first thing they would expect of her. Obviously, they knew about him, and didn't see him as any kind of threat. With tears in her eyes, she realized that Elfangor had to be dead, or Visser 3 wouldn't have even gotten close to her and her son. She knew he still loved her, no matter what. Now, she thought, how is one lone human woman going to last against the Yeerk Empire, let alone defeat them. Any message she could send would take years, maybe centuries, to reach its destination. What could she do?

These thoughts stuck with her, as she ran full speed to the woods, and toward hiding.

Elfangor, now Alan Fangor, woke suddenly. He had been journeying in the Dream World, and he had seen an image there that had disturbed him. It was of Loren, running. Death had not come for her.

He sat up so suddenly that he bumped his head on the headboard. Saying several of the words that he had learned on earth, he struggled to free himself of the blankets covering him. He had had quite a wrestling match with them in his dreams last night. He had seen images of himself fighting with Visser 3, only they had been so far apart from each other that the Visser's tail blade had done him no good. Instead, the only thing they could do to each other was throw cream pies, and hope to hit the other in the face. He didn't think there was any significance in it, although there might be in his next. In it, he and several earth animals were fighting something worse that the Yeerks. It was large, dark and nebulas. It had Loren. No, he realized, it had him, and Loren was trying to save _him._

Earlier, when his talents had been manifesting themselves, he had been in a kind of shock, and he had lost his, well, humanity. He had lost the ability to feel. It had frightened him when he had thawed later. Now, he was himself for a while, but that emotional deadness had come back at times, and he didn't know how to deal with it.

He got his clothes on, and started hacking into the Yeerk databases. It had been extremely easy for him to do so. In an odd way, it was like walking in the World of Dreams. He had let himself drift, and he had found the places he had wanted to go. No problem. 

He opened a recent file, and brought a mug of cold coffee to his lips. It had been made yesterday, and had been sitting in the pot overnight. It was bitter as space, but he needed the caffeine. 

He had just taken a gulp when he read what the file said, and nearly choked.

Loren had been found in a mental institution, and had fled.

Loren.

She had been so much to him. She and his son had been his reason for fighting in the war in the first place. The saying about "duty being heavier that a mountain" was lightened by knowing they were out there. They had given him hope.

He started inquiring about Tobias, knowing that he would be her first priority. He hoped that the Yeerks wouldn't have known about him. He was shocked to find a file with his name on it. The letter that the Ellimist had let him send had been found by a Controller. They had decided to see if the son of Elfangor had anything to do with the Andalite bandits. Clearly, he had not. Finding him unworthy of making into a Controller, they had let him go.

Alan breathed a sigh of relief. They obviously had no idea that Tobias _was_ one of the "Andalite bandits". His son was safe. For now.

Loren had been an avid camper since she had been little. She had gone on several wilderness survival courses with Alan, and had learned well. She thought that there was little chance that the Yeerks would be able to find her outside of civilization. She and Alan had trekked these woods frequently in teaching him about earth, and knew that there was a well-hidden valley nearby. She just hoped that she could make it before she collapsed from sheer exhaustion. After spending how many years in a mental institution, she was way out of shape.

As night approached, she began looking for a place to sleep. While she wasn't too worried about predators, she was canny enough to want to keep from being seen by anyone, human or not. Looking around, she saw a cave. No, she thought, too obvious. Then, she saw a large tree. It had a huge trunk, and a large hollow between where its limbs branched out. Climbing up, she settled, and fell asleep.

She woke up the next morning, and screamed.

Before her was a Hork-Bajir.

She scrambled back, knowing that it had to be a Controller. 

It was a young one, and rather small. What would a Yeerk be doing in such a small host?

The Hork-Bajir looked at her quizzically. When it didn't attack, Loren began to hope maybe it thought she was a Controller too.

"My name is Toby," it rasped in its Hork-Bajir voice. "I won't hurt you."

Loren just gaped.

"You're not a Controller," she finally stated.

"Are you?" asked Toby.

"No," she whispered softly.

Toby cocked her head to the side, and gave Loren a curious look.

"Come with me, and we will wait three days, just to make sure. We won't hurt you unless you do something stupid," Toby said.

" 'We'?" Loren asked, confused.

Toby gave her the frightening Hork-Bajir smile.

"Welcome to the valley of the free Hork-Bajir."

Erek the Chee was on his way to Cassie's barn. He had learned something strange, and he wanted to tell his friends immediately. Well, two things, actually. The first was that someone using human technology had been getting into the Yeerk mainframe. The second concerned Tobias. Erek had just learned about Visser 3's attempt to kill Loren, and her subsequent escape. He needed to tell the Animorphs, so they could find her first. His hopes of finding her were slim to none, but he knew Tobias would want to try. Loren had been missing a week. 

He had called Jake to tell him that he had some information that would be useful to them. He hadn't said what. 

Erek used his speed and hologram to remain undetected when he went to the Animorph meetings. He was worried about Visser 3 getting suspicious. Somehow, the word that there was a leak was getting out.

Erek arrived a little late to the meeting. He had backtracked, making sure he had not been followed. He needed to be certain. He had felt eyes on his back recently. It made him feel creepy.

"Well, Erek, what's the deal with keeping us all in suspense?" asked Marco, of course.

"I was making sure I wasn't being followed. I have had this weird feeling that I was being watched for weeks now."

"What was so important, Erek?" asked Jake, seriously.

"I learned that someone, using _human_ technology, has been hacking the Yeerk mainframe. Plus, whoever has been doing this was so good, the Yeerks haven't figured it out yet."

"Yep, that's pretty strange. Do you think this person could be an ally?" commented Jake.

"I don't know. Whoever this person might be may help us, but I wouldn't go and roll out the red carpet for them yet. Let's wait and see."

The Animorphs thought it all over for a bit. Erek could see them tossing the idea around in their heads, wondering if they might get some help. Who knew?

"There was something else," he added tentatively.

"There was?" asked Cassie.

Erek hesitated. He glanced up at Tobias, and wondered how he would take the news. For years he had thought that his mother was either dead, or had abandoned him. How would he react to the realization that she had done neither? That she had no choice?

"It concerns you, Tobias, and your family. Visser 3 knows who your father was, but apparently he had as big a grudge against your mother. He found out were she was," he stopped, watching to see how Tobias reacted.

Tobias gave him the full fury of his hawk's glare, and then fluffed his feathers. Then he started to give a wailing keen. It was a sound of such sadness that Erek was glad he didn't have a human heart, or it would have broken.

Where? he finally demanded.

"He found here in a mental institution. She had been there for years. I saw her file, and she had been diagnosed as being paranoid schizophrenic. She had been seeing someone for depression, when she told a friend about you and your father. Your real father. She had been married to a man named Bill. He took custody of you, and she was drugged and put in the mental ward. She had been there ever since."

HAD? he yelled in thought speak.

Erek nodded. "Had. Visser 3 started searching, and eventually found her. When he did, he decided that he needed to go and torture her, to get some final revenge on her and Elfangor. Somehow, she escaped, and was last seen heading for the woods. No one has seen her since."

Jake, Tobias wailed in thought speak. We have got to go find her. Please!

"Man, this could be a trap," began Marco.

"Marco!" screeched Rachel.

"But we owe Tobias too much not to pursue it," he continued, as if Rachel hadn't interrupted.

Everyone nodded. 

"Alright," said Jake, in full leader mode. "Erek, show us the general area she was last seen in. Tobias, you, Rachel and Ax will scout the area, and I, Marco and Cassie will start a search pattern closer to here. Okay, guys, let's get going!"

They quickly go through the morphing into birds of prey. Rachel and Tobias left almost at the same time, and Ax was hard pressed to keep up with them. 

Do you have any idea of where she might have gone? Rachel asked Tobias. 

I have no clue. I never really knew her, he said, feeling a lump rise in his throat. 

I'm sorry, she said softly. 

Don't be. You had nothing to do with it.

Alan was looking again through the yeerk files. He realized that by now, they had to know something about his hacking, but he didn't think they could trace it. He hoped.

He heard a pounding on the door. It might have been going on for some time, but he had been ignoring it.

Feeling very irritated, he got up from his console and went to the door. When he opened it, he saw that it was a bad idea, immediately.

It was Visser 3, holding a Dracon beam.

"Can I help you?" Alan said mildly, trying to bluff his way out.

"Yes, you can," he said. He was in human morph. Alan could feel Alloran shrieking, trapped inside his own head.

"May I ask how?"

Visser 3 gestured with his weapon. "You can come with me, right now. No funny stuff."

There was nothing else for Alan to do, but to go along.

Jake, Cassie and Marco had been flying over an area close to the Hork-Bajir valley when they hit an invisible wall. 

Cassie collided with it first, her body crumpling against the see-through barrier. Jake and Marco followed her, and were scooped up by a trap door in the wall. They fell into a room that had a very strange smell to it. Then, they passed out.

Alan walked in front of Visser 3, who was trailing along behind him like a bad human movie spy.

"What do you want?" Alan asked, feeling the inhuman calm that he has been dreading fall on him again.

"What I want to know," Visser 3 hissed, grabbing his shoulder and slamming him into a car, then opening the door to shove him in, "Is how you, and your kind were able to infiltrate my organization so well, that I didn't see the coup you and your cohorts were planning, coming!"

Alan was more than just puzzled at this statement, he was down right blown out. A coup? Against the Visser? He had never heard of anything like that happening before. It was unprecedented.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Alan stated firmly. He was now handcuffed and strapped into the backseat of the old station wagon Visser 3 had shoved him into. 

Satisfied that there was no way that Alan could escape, Visser 3 started to drive. The expression on his face conveyed the rage he was feeling. Alan was still baffled. 

Without preamble, he started to speak.

"I have no idea how you were able to do it," he mumbled. "Someone created a breach in our security, and then, those, those _things_ appeared. I have no idea where they came from, and no one has ever heard of this species before. How dare they? How dare they try and take my prize, how dare they try and take _Earth_ away from me?" he mumbled.

"If it makes you feel any better," Alan interrupted, "I have no clue either as to what species would be able to shake the yeerk occupation of Earth."

The tires of the station wagon squealed as Visser 3 lost control for a few moments.

"So!" he shouted. "You do know something about it!"

Alan shrugged. In his state in inhuman calm, he couldn't have cared about what the Visser thought any more than if it was raining. 

"Yes, I do, Alloran."

"That is my host's name, not mine!" Visser 3 roared.

"I was talking to your host, yeerk, not you."

"You will address me with respect. I am Visser Three!"

"Not anymore, you aren't."

"You arrogant, pompous-"

"I do not fear you, Visser. Nor you, Alloran."

"You will tell me what you know!" Visser Three shrieked.

Alan smiled coldly. "I know that you aren't the power that you thought. I know that the only way you could get your host was through trickery. I also know that you are a murder. That you killed me!"

"What are you talking about?" said the insane megalomaniac in confusion. "You look more than enough alive to me."

Alan grinned. "That's for me to know, and you to find out."

Rachel, Tobias and Ax had been searching for nearly the full two-hour limit, and still, no sign of Loren.

Where could she be? Tobias moaned in desperation, searching with his intense hawk vision.

Easy, Tobias, Rachel soothed. You've waited nearly, what, eleven, twelve years to meet her? It can wait until we've demorphed. You'll see.

If he had been able to, Tobias would have let out a deep felt sigh.

I know, Rachel, I know. I'm worried about her, that's all.

Morph time is almost up. I would advise that we find a safe place to land, so that we can morph, Ax said, off-handedly.

Fine, Tobias said, feeling distracted. His eyes still searched, as if by will alone he could pluck his mother from the woods around them.

Loren had been with the Hork-Bajir for the full three days. She had been a guest of sorts, and while they had not been thrilled with her there, they had treated her cordially enough.

It was one of the lookouts that saw it first.

"Look!" announced one of the harsh Hork-Bajir voices. She had been trusted enough to watch over some of the youngest offspring now that they knew she wasn't a Controller, and swiveled her head to see what the scout had seen. It was several birds of prey, and they seemed to have collided with an invisible wall.

It took her eyes a few moments to get the full effect of what she was seeing. It was only later, when Toby came to look, that she was told who those birds of prey really were.

"We keep a lookout for our friends, the Animorphs," explained the very young Toby. 

"Who, or what, are the Animorphs?" Loren asked, sounding bewildered. It was then that she realized how much she did not understand.

"They are a group of human children that have the Andalite ability to morph," continued Toby.

Loren was amazed. "I thought that the Andalites wouldn't give any of there technology away. I was told that it was against one of their greatest laws."

"Apparently," said Toby in a very dry voice. "The Andalite that gave the humans their abilities was something of a rogue. His name was Prince Elfangor."

"What happened to Elfangor?" Loren replied slowly.

"He was killed. Eaten, by Visser Three."

Loren wanted the tears to come, but they wouldn't. Now, she knew her target. It would give her a reason to fight.

"My godfather, as the humans say, is among them."

"Really," Loren said absently, trying to find a way to get her thoughts in order.

"Yes. His name is Tobias."

"TOBIAS?" Loren screamed. "You mean that one of those children was my son?"

Toby looked at her in astonishment. "I knew you looked like a human that I knew! I'm sorry, I would have taken you to them, but all you humans look alike to me…"

"Well, that's solved, then isn't it?" Loren smiled beatifically. The tears that she had been unable to shed earlier now came, but they were of gladness, not sorrow.

Toby smiled, and even her frightening Hork-Bajir grin seemed beautiful at that moment.

Getting together an escort of Hork-Bajir, Toby and Loren set out for Cassie's barn.

To be continued…

Comments?


	4. Games and Trials

**A Choice and a Chance 4:**

**Games and Trials**

** **

Disclaimer: Animorphs belongs to Scholastic, and any other series mentioned therein, do not belong to me, and I make no money from this whatsoever.

(Author's note: I got a bad case of writer's block when it came to this one. Sorry that it took so long.) 

_Emrys sat still, watching the chessboard in front of her._

_"Interesting play," said her opponent. "You always did like to use your pawns creatively."_

_Emrys didn't answer._

_"Still, the endgame is not yet finished, but bringing back your king was something of a stroke of genius."_

_"I am but a player, as are you," Emrys answered. "My moves are as directed as these." She gestured at the pieces, who even now where moving without being touched._

_"Still, if must be nice, being in control for once," said her faceless adversary._

_The only answer to that was a harsh bark of laughter._

_ _

Loren followed behind the Hork-Bajir that was leading her through the forest to the place where they said her son was.

She shivered. All her years in an institution, all the time spent away, had made the chance of actually seeing him again seem all the more unreal.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Alan Fangor and Visser Three road along in the old car, with Alan completely at ease, while Visser Three sweated. Neither of them noticed the shadowy figures that followed them.

Not until they were captured, that is.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Good God!" she yelled, seeing three birds of prey descend into the clearing that she and the other Hork-Bajir into.

They acted almost the same way, flaring their wings and gaping their beaks wide open. Then, they started to mutate in the strange manner that was so familiar from her adventure with Elfangor.

One was definitely an Andalite, and the other a human girl. Then, she saw the face that she had been wanting to see for so, so long-

Moaning something incoherent, she ran to him, and nearly throttled him with a hug.

For Tobias part, he stood there, still as stone, breath coming in wheezes, his face in an expression that couldn't be read.

"Mom," he said softly, finally. "I has been so long," his arms came around her, completing the embrace.

"Youngster," she replied, looking up, eyes and nose running," If I ever let you go again, it is because I am dead, you got that?"

Tobias choked up. He finally had his mother…

He hoarsely whispered a word that had seemed so unreal to him-

"Momma," he sobbed, and hugged her tightly.

Both of them fell over, deeply asleep.

For a moment, no one spoke. Then, rushing over, Rachel looked at them.

"What the heck just happened?" she asked. No one answered her.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

_"Where am I?" asked Tobias, looking around at the strange place he was in. It was sort of like the forest that he lived in, but not._

_"Your guess is as good as mine," he heard someone beside him say, and he turned to see his mother._

_"Mom?" he said, and then saw a face that made him wonder if he had lost his sanity-_

_"Emrys!" he shouted, stumbling backwards._

_"What? Who? Emrys?" stuttered Loren, looking at the woman standing in front of her._

_The tall, stately woman, who had the bad luck to be chosen to be the person reborn, over and over, grinned like an urchin, making him wonder how anyone would guess that she had been a feared monster._

_"Well, I can only keep you here for just a small space, but I need to tell you something."_

_"Where is this place? Where are we?" screamed Loren, panicked._

_Emrys made an impatient gesture. "No time. Elfangor is alive. It took me a while to convince him to go back, but it was possible. You need to find him. So long as he is alive, I have a grip on the living world." She grimaced. "Being dead stinks."_

_POP!_

"Uh, Mom," Tobias asked, his voice sounding oddly muddled. "What just happened?"

Ax, Rachel and the Hork-Bajir had crowded around them while they where unconscious. Tobias shook his head to clear it.

"Dad's alive," he whispered, and looked at his mother.

Loren seemed to be coming out of some kind of daze.

"Elfangor is alive!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Groan.

Where am I?

There is something wrong with this place, isn't there?

There was nothing but darkness, and pain. 

All alone.

Wait a minute…

"All alone?" his voice asked, rasping.

"Not completely," said someone else, beside him. Alloran opened his eyes, and found himself in a barred cell.

"Where are we?" he found himself asking, before the revelation that had only been hinted at struck him fully.

It was gone.

_Visser Three was gone!_

"They took the Yeerk from you about a day ago."

_A day ago?_

__Alloran's human eyes widened with realization. His head jerked, trying to find the source of the human voice, and saw the man that his 'keeper' had captured. He still had that damned calmness about him, and it drove him crazy. Gritting his teeth, he understood that he had gone beyond the time-limit. He was human, a_ nothlit._

__The thought was almost as terrifying as when he had become a Controller…

Whimpering, the once Abomination fainted.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*

_In a cell somewhere else in the same building…_

__"Is it me, or are we in some kind of strange cell?" asked Marco, who was looking like he was about to puke.

The other Animorphs, Jake and Cassie, were feeling the same way.

Cassie had already made a run for the toilet.

"It was the gas they used to knock us out, you guys," Jake said, coming to a quick conclusion. It was then his turn to puke.

"Well, this is fun," said Marco, his face turning an interesting shade of green.

"Okay, now what happens?"

Ta-da! The fourth part is finished! Too bad I keep wanting to add weird humor… Oh, oatmeal cream pies… yummy… No, must stay sane…

I won't let you!

**I REALLY DON'T LIKE IT WHEN YOU MAKE ME LOOK STUPID, LARANIA.**

****I don't like you all that much, Ellimist! So ~blows raspberry~!

**WHY ME??**

** **

_ _


End file.
